[Music]
[Applause]
[Applause]
as we all know this me too
movement as I would like to call it has
been very active all over the world but
very much so
in Sweden and I just want to share some
reflections on the understanding of why
and what this is all about how can we
understand the phenomenon of sexual
harassment and what we have been now
very much aware of that it’s about not
talking about something that is evidence
II very very common all over the place
and of course also in Sweden so I would
say that my main reflection is of course
it’s because of the gender awareness
that we have achieved through years of
education and discussions and
reflections that this has been possible
to talk about and write about and share
in the Swedish context maybe more than
in other contexts so some reflections
about these collective movements I will
share with you now in times of me too
and I would say that gender as a field
of knowledge is hotly connected to
research and theories and theorizing so
very much is about gender where
awareness is based on knowledge and
sharing nor knowledge so it’s very much
about research what does gender mean in
societies in organizations etc but also
it’s very crucial that we look upon
perceived gender as social and
cultural constructs not as something
given once and for all
and the power perspective is very very
central in all gender theorizing so what
about gender equality that is something
else that is compared to gender theory
something that is much more in practice
it’s about work for change it’s about
political goals for gender equality and
very much being part of the work for
change in societies in organizations but
of course also on an individual level we
are all sort of part of that reflection
reflecting and thinking about your own
identity and values I would say
regarding this so me as a professor and
a scholar in this field and very used to
that a lot of people feel sort of
discomfort when we talk about gender
issues
feminism gender quality whatever
connected that to that field of research
and I’ve also done quite a lot of
research about these common reactions
why do people feel slightly not very at
ease when we talk about this and there
are several explanations to this one is
that it’s connected to the idea that
it’s sort of a negative way of talking
focusing on the problems instead of the
solutions and I would say that that is
partly why this has been so hidden that
it’s kind of not okay to share these
experiences because then you become the
problem it’s also there are some
gendered reactions of discomfort and if
we start with the category of men a lot
of men feel discomfort because they feel
that this is somehow connected to guilt
and being accused feeling accused as a
man of different kinds of inequalities
and of course that is not a nice feeling
so it’s very important to have the
structural analysis to see that we are
part of structures the same goes for
women that feel discomfort because they
feel stigmatized as being pointed at as
the other the problem the victims this
is not a positive identity either so
it’s very very important to have but the
perspective of structures that its
structural but also that it’s about
power and power relations so what is the
problem of course it’s about that there
is some systemic thing going on in
society that we might call gender the
gender order and if we look at it
closely it’s very often related to the
main problem is that men are slightly
highly valued than women in some sense
and this is the same with sexual
harassment there is a difference in the
values the respect of sort of human
value here and it’s about structures of
inequality so in what ways are these
gender order expressed in society there
are four very classic ways of describing
the expressions and these are related to
either economic difference differences
in power and influence representation
there are differences in the
responsibilities for unpaid care work
but also the differences in bodily
integrity where we can now link the me
to a movement to this somehow connected
to sexual violence sexual harassment so
it’s very important also to see that
what I’m
wanna see that gender is socially and
culturally constructed it’s very
important to be specific about when we
talk about gender difference
it’s not about essence it’s not about
natural or functional differences
inequality is not natural it’s about the
conditions that we meet as human beings
every day in our daily lives conditions
are about what how we are being treated
the expectations we made the ideals
norms etc and not only that but also
take into account the consequences of
this in terms of resources possibilities
health and a lot of other things and
this is what really makes the inequality
obvious to us these differences making
differences have consequences so we
usually divide expressions of inequality
into these four categories where we can
see discrimination could be related to a
lot of actions like the way that we
formulate you know policies of salaries
promotion a lot of things connected to
work-life development opportunities etc
sexual harassment and harassment is sort
of one group of inequality in itself
that has been treated this way it’s not
a new phenomenon in research we have
been talking about and redoing research
about sexual harassment since I would
say early 80s or even late 70s then I’m
talking about the 1970s so it’s really
not a new phenomenon to us scholars but
we also talk about inequalities in other
terms it’s not only that about the
things that happen it’s also about the
things that do not happen the non
actions the invisibility the the lack of
recognitions for
instance very common in academic
organizations and that discrimination
might not be the things that actually
happened to you but the things that do
not happen in comparison to male
colleagues etc so this we know quite a
lot about we talk us about in exclusion
and inclusion in relation to culture
organizational culture as an explanation
there are several motives for gender
equality work and diversity work and you
can you know we could go into either of
these that I have named here and see
that they are valid in different
contexts depending on if you’re in the
cultural sector or academic sector or if
if you’re in the public sector or in
private business you will use different
arguments why should you work for gender
equality and there is not not one answer
that is right or wrong it’s a matter of
values and you have to be very careful
about the way that you actually talk
about these arguments because that is
sort of the answer to why when we talk
about gender polity goals what what is
the thing that we try to achieve it’s
very important to see that there are
both of quantitative goals in terms of
numbers but also qualitative it’s very
much about culture and values and these
things that we cannot measure in the
same way we can measure it but we have
to use other methods so today in Sweden
in the Swedish contest in the European
context we you often use this strategy
of gender mainstreaming it’s a gender
equality strategy it means that you
should mainstream the work for change
into the normal processes into the
normal behaviors and groups that actors
that normally take decisions
and are involved in decisions should
have this knowledge and I think this is
partly a result of you know long term at
work for gender equality that will raise
the gender awareness in all groups in in
groups of managing managers most of all
is very important so at kth how do we at
this university where we are right now
how do we work with these this strategy
of gender mainstreaming at the
university we have prioritized in our
plans for actions for different parts
when we formulate goals
it’s about organizing the work for
gender equality to see that we have
representatives from top down that
actually have knowledge and having the
goals and know the problems it’s about
creating equal conditions it’s about
creating inclusive cultures but we have
to do this through raising awareness and
and sharing knowledge so to sum up and
connect to this movement going on right
now and the theme for this these talks
about the individual and the collective
I think it’s very nice example of this
social movement is is about sharing
individual experience the the energy the
it starts with an individual experience
of inequality but as long as it is only
your own individual experiences nothing
will happen
so the the the energy and the action
takes place when we share so it’s about
contributing to collective gender
awareness that is what happens when you
share your experience and that when you
suddenly see that this is not only about
me this is about a structure and it’s
also about
culture hiding and and supporting this
kind of behavior so I think it’s very
important to move from individual to
collective to inspire and require action
for change and it’s about change both in
on a society level and an organizational level thank you
[Applause]
[Applause]
as we all know this me too
movement as I would like to call it has
been very active all over the world but
very much so
in Sweden and I just want to share some
reflections on the understanding of why
and what this is all about how can we
understand the phenomenon of sexual
harassment and what we have been now
very much aware of that it’s about not
talking about something that is evidence
II very very common all over the place
and of course also in Sweden so I would
say that my main reflection is of course
it’s because of the gender awareness
that we have achieved through years of
education and discussions and
reflections that this has been possible
to talk about and write about and share
in the Swedish context maybe more than
in other contexts so some reflections
about these collective movements I will
share with you now in times of me too
and I would say that gender as a field
of knowledge is hotly connected to
research and theories and theorizing so
very much is about gender where
awareness is based on knowledge and
sharing nor knowledge so it’s very much
about research what does gender mean in
societies in organizations etc but also
it’s very crucial that we look upon
perceived gender as social and
cultural constructs not as something
given once and for all
and the power perspective is very very
central in all gender theorizing so what
about gender equality that is something
else that is compared to gender theory
something that is much more in practice
it’s about work for change it’s about
political goals for gender equality and
very much being part of the work for
change in societies in organizations but
of course also on an individual level we
are all sort of part of that reflection
reflecting and thinking about your own
identity and values I would say
regarding this so me as a professor and
a scholar in this field and very used to
that a lot of people feel sort of
discomfort when we talk about gender
issues
feminism gender quality whatever
connected that to that field of research
and I’ve also done quite a lot of
research about these common reactions
why do people feel slightly not very at
ease when we talk about this and there
are several explanations to this one is
that it’s connected to the idea that
it’s sort of a negative way of talking
focusing on the problems instead of the
solutions and I would say that that is
partly why this has been so hidden that
it’s kind of not okay to share these
experiences because then you become the
problem it’s also there are some
gendered reactions of discomfort and if
we start with the category of men a lot
of men feel discomfort because they feel
that this is somehow connected to guilt
and being accused feeling accused as a
man of different kinds of inequalities
and of course that is not a nice feeling
so it’s very important to have the
structural analysis to see that we are
part of structures the same goes for
women that feel discomfort because they
feel stigmatized as being pointed at as
the other the problem the victims this
is not a positive identity either so
it’s very very important to have but the
perspective of structures that its
structural but also that it’s about
power and power relations so what is the
problem of course it’s about that there
is some systemic thing going on in
society that we might call gender the
gender order and if we look at it
closely it’s very often related to the
main problem is that men are slightly
highly valued than women in some sense
and this is the same with sexual
harassment there is a difference in the
values the respect of sort of human
value here and it’s about structures of
inequality so in what ways are these
gender order expressed in society there
are four very classic ways of describing
the expressions and these are related to
either economic difference differences
in power and influence representation
there are differences in the
responsibilities for unpaid care work
but also the differences in bodily
integrity where we can now link the me
to a movement to this somehow connected
to sexual violence sexual harassment so
it’s very important also to see that
what I’m
wanna see that gender is socially and
culturally constructed it’s very
important to be specific about when we
talk about gender difference
it’s not about essence it’s not about
natural or functional differences
inequality is not natural it’s about the
conditions that we meet as human beings
every day in our daily lives conditions
are about what how we are being treated
the expectations we made the ideals
norms etc and not only that but also
take into account the consequences of
this in terms of resources possibilities
health and a lot of other things and
this is what really makes the inequality
obvious to us these differences making
differences have consequences so we
usually divide expressions of inequality
into these four categories where we can
see discrimination could be related to a
lot of actions like the way that we
formulate you know policies of salaries
promotion a lot of things connected to
work-life development opportunities etc
sexual harassment and harassment is sort
of one group of inequality in itself
that has been treated this way it’s not
a new phenomenon in research we have
been talking about and redoing research
about sexual harassment since I would
say early 80s or even late 70s then I’m
talking about the 1970s so it’s really
not a new phenomenon to us scholars but
we also talk about inequalities in other
terms it’s not only that about the
things that happen it’s also about the
things that do not happen the non
actions the invisibility the the lack of
recognitions for
instance very common in academic
organizations and that discrimination
might not be the things that actually
happened to you but the things that do
not happen in comparison to male
colleagues etc so this we know quite a
lot about we talk us about in exclusion
and inclusion in relation to culture
organizational culture as an explanation
there are several motives for gender
equality work and diversity work and you
can you know we could go into either of
these that I have named here and see
that they are valid in different
contexts depending on if you’re in the
cultural sector or academic sector or if
if you’re in the public sector or in
private business you will use different
arguments why should you work for gender
equality and there is not not one answer
that is right or wrong it’s a matter of
values and you have to be very careful
about the way that you actually talk
about these arguments because that is
sort of the answer to why when we talk
about gender polity goals what what is
the thing that we try to achieve it’s
very important to see that there are
both of quantitative goals in terms of
numbers but also qualitative it’s very
much about culture and values and these
things that we cannot measure in the
same way we can measure it but we have
to use other methods so today in Sweden
in the Swedish contest in the European
context we you often use this strategy
of gender mainstreaming it’s a gender
equality strategy it means that you
should mainstream the work for change
into the normal processes into the
normal behaviors and groups that actors
that normally take decisions
and are involved in decisions should
have this knowledge and I think this is
partly a result of you know long term at
work for gender equality that will raise
the gender awareness in all groups in in
groups of managing managers most of all
is very important so at kth how do we at
this university where we are right now
how do we work with these this strategy
of gender mainstreaming at the
university we have prioritized in our
plans for actions for different parts
when we formulate goals
it’s about organizing the work for
gender equality to see that we have
representatives from top down that
actually have knowledge and having the
goals and know the problems it’s about
creating equal conditions it’s about
creating inclusive cultures but we have
to do this through raising awareness and
and sharing knowledge so to sum up and
connect to this movement going on right
now and the theme for this these talks
about the individual and the collective
I think it’s very nice example of this
social movement is is about sharing
individual experience the the energy the
it starts with an individual experience
of inequality but as long as it is only
your own individual experiences nothing
will happen
so the the the energy and the action
takes place when we share so it’s about
contributing to collective gender
awareness that is what happens when you
share your experience and that when you
suddenly see that this is not only about
me this is about a structure and it’s
also about
culture hiding and and supporting this
kind of behavior so I think it’s very
important to move from individual to
collective to inspire and require action
for change and it’s about change both in
on a society level and an organizational level thank you
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